But with all the talks of the new Will Rogers Arena and even some talks of the former TXU Power Plant, I thought of combining the two in an idea to create a new waterfront, 17k arena., Just cause...

Some base models:

Size comparison to the CC Arena.

The plan is to use the majority of the old TXU plant as part of the arena, used as an atrium, offices, locker/dressing rooms, storage, some concessions and some restrooms. I'd want to be able to use as little space for the actual arena as possible. This arena would come with a boardwalk on the river/lake side, making it unique in that regard. How many other cities could say they have an arena right on a boardwalk? I put in 3 of the old smokestacks that were torn down, even though I'm sure I didn't put them in the exact space.

I'll actually design the whole thing, inside and out, at some point. But this is just to give you an idea.

Oh stop. Who would want such a thing? Stock Show is where all the money is at!

Bottom right is the Xcel Energy Center (20k seats, $178 mil in 2014 dollars), home to the Minnesota Wild and the 2008 Republican National Convention. Adjacent to that is the Rivercenter (convention center). Adjacent to that is the Science Museum. Adjacent to that is the Mississippi River.

Oh stop. Who would want such a thing? Stock Show is where all the money is at!

Bottom right is the Xcel Energy Center (20k seats, $178 mil in 2014 dollars), home to the Minnesota Wild and the 2008 Republican National Convention. Adjacent to that is the Rivercenter (convention center). Adjacent to that is the Science Museum. Adjacent to that is the Mississippi River.

Would be nice.

Like I said in a another thread, I do believe that it's possible to have more than just one major arena in this city, as we've had for the longest (CC, WR, and Stockyards) so I'm just throwing this idea out.

It would be in Panther Island right next to the lake and rivers and not that far a walk from Sundance and the TCC campuses. Only real CONS I can think of for this is knowing that it would take out some of the original power plant and it's still not as close to the Convention Center.

First and foremost, the press, luxury, and party boxes are all on one side, like Philips Arena (Atlanta) and Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara) and all those boxes are on the east side with the old power plant. I did that for a couple reasons.

- Don't cause a "separation effect" you get from Cowboys Stadium. The fans are all connected.

- With the boxes located where the plant is, a lot of the stairs, escalators, and elevators would sit on that side, opening up the other side's concourse a little more.

Another thing you'll notice is the open concourse between the bowl and 2nd tier. Just like so many newer stadiums being built, including Cowboys and AGC Stadium. Just seems to flow better than traditional concourse. It's as if you're not missing the action... even if you really are.

Jeriat, for the exterior of your envisioned arena, why did you choose a "pillbox"-like design, and no windows or embellishments? No offense, but it looks pretty bland. Granted, not being an architect or an expert when it comes to sports arenas, I hereby temper my judgment.

Jeriat, for the exterior of your envisioned arena, why did you choose a "pillbox"-like design, and no windows or embellishments? No offense, but it looks pretty bland. Granted, not being an architect or an expert when it comes to sports arenas, I hereby temper my judgment.

That's better. What I was looking at was your earlier post (Post No. 1 above) showing the pillbox with gold-colored walls and green-colored roof. Is that the current structure there, I never noticed?

The old Power Plant? I plan to have it integrated into the arena. My first post was not the complete model. That land is too valuable NOT to have any windows. And the green roof is just a result of not coloring anything into sketch up before loading it into Google Earth.

That's just a rough depiction of the hypothetical arena's shape and massing. He hadn't textured it.

^^^ Right.

Basically just a 3D sketch. And honestly, the sketch is much larger than I actually made it out to be. It's noticeably smaller. Of course I wouldn't make something THAT bulky and windowless. Not as much as I hate the AT&T Building.

I'll have this arena done later today. You'll see what I'm really going for, here.

Shares space with the old Power Plant, reusing it as a main concourse, locker rooms, storage rooms, concessions, offices, etc. The downside to this is that parts of the Power Plant would be taken away. But not the entire building

Made to be a multi-use building, with restaurants and retail on the ground level, facing the lake.

Arena's bowl is above ground because of the way the Power Plant is built, making room for said restaurants and retail spaces.

Lakeside area of the building would be a large boardwalk, featuring places to sit or dine.

New replica smokestacks used as ornamentation, a reminder of what the building used to look like. (I have no idea what the exact size of the smokestacks were, and I know there were more than 2 at some point, but I just decided to have two only.

Very creative, I appreciate the attempt at reuse of an historical structure, and integration of the new building with the old. However, I don't know if this is the best place for a major arena. When an event is over most of the attendees want to go home, and in a vast urban area with no meaningful transit that means access to a freeway. One of the drawbacks of Panther Island for "big events" is going to be lack of freeway access. That said, the same lack could be one of the defining positives of the area, especially for residents who might be able to live, work, and play in the same walkable space, but also for visitors who are able to stay and not have to speed back to their home burb.

One way to address this access problem might be to construct a route from Panther Island across the river to the east, then across (or under) Samuels Avenue and all the railroad tracks (perhaps reorganized as a discreet set of shared or "union" tracks) to an intersection with the soon-to-be-reconstructed I-35W (Pan-American Freeway?) that would allow easy access into and out of the area you have set up for the hypothetical arena. Even without the arena, a quick access to I-35W would be a good thing for development on the Island.

Very creative, I appreciate the attempt at reuse of an historical structure, and integration of the new building with the old. However, I don't know if this is the best place for a major arena. When an event is over most of the attendees want to go home, and in a vast urban area with no meaningful transit that means access to a freeway. One of the drawbacks of Panther Island for "big events" is going to be lack of freeway access. That said, the same lack could be one of the defining positives of the area, especially for residents who might be able to live, work, and play in the same walkable space, but also for visitors who are able to stay and not have to speed back to their home burb.

One way to address this access problem might be to construct a route from Panther Island across the river to the east, then across (or under) Samuels Avenue and all the railroad tracks (perhaps reorganized as a discreet set of shared or "union" tracks) to an intersection with the soon-to-be-reconstructed I-35W (Pan-American Freeway?) that would allow easy access into and out of the area you have set up for the hypothetical arena. Even without the arena, a quick access to I-35W would be a good thing for development on the Island.

Honestly, that's what I was going for, seeing how the whole purpose of Panther Island was to create a dense, walkable, and far more pedestrian friendly. Looking at the map, there is supposed to be a road that access to Samuels, although I'm not sure how much that would help getting people to I-35.

Still, there are arenas in this country that don't have direct access to major highways located in dense areas, like MSG, Philips Arena, Key Arena, FedEx Forum, and the U.S. Airways Center. Those were the models I followed.

I love your renderings. I am not a fan of the smokestacks coming back. But turning them to signage is great ! I am warming up to that idea. And I love how you match the power plant and the arena. Plus I like how this is close too downtown. Well I guess technically this will be downtown also. The new arena will just be too small.

So this idea may have legs with a future Mayor and city council . Keep this on file. And present this idea to city hall in five years. I will go with you for support . Maybe next you ought to try rendering a skyway or gondola from your arena up to downtown ? New York is looking to build a cool futuristic gondola from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Great work Jeriat .

Great stuff Jeriat, I think this is a killer idea and I love how you repurposed the building and I am a fan of the stacks. In my opinion I would be 100% in support of this or an Aquarium. I really like Dallas' Aquarium and I am all for us to have one too.

I love your renderings. I am not a fan of the smokestacks coming back. But turning them to signage is great ! I am warming up to that idea. And I love how you match the power plant and the arena. Plus I like how this is close too downtown. Well I guess technically this will be downtown also. The new arena will just be too small.

So this idea may have legs with a future Mayor and city council . Keep this on file. And present this idea to city hall in five years. I will go with you for support . Maybe next you ought to try rendering a skyway or gondola from your arena up to downtown ? New York is looking to build a cool futuristic gondola from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Great work Jeriat .

I made the arena to be more "basketball specific", although, I did think of it as much larger. The only reason why it's smaller here is because I thought of the new Will Rogers Arena to be built having room for hockey, and knowing that this city isn't getting an NHL team, it wouldn't need to be big enough for such reason.

Didn't know about the gondola thing? If anything, I would think that connecting to Heritage Plaza with a bridge could work, since it's so neglected. But who knows.

Thanks for the the encouragement.

Great stuff Jeriat, I think this is a killer idea and I love how you repurposed the building and I am a fan of the stacks. In my opinion I would be 100% in support of this or an Aquarium. I really like Dallas' Aquarium and I am all for us to have one too.

Thanks.

And as for the aquarium idea, I've warmed up to reusing Water Gardens Place, making it a 5 story aquarium with a restaurant on the 6th floor and roof top.

Water Gardens Place seems to be a going concern, an employment center rated as a Class B office building. I wouldn't want to mess with success by taking that away for a speculative project like an aquarium. Besides, wouldn't an aquarium need pretty specialized structural support for all that water weight? I would think that given the reinforcements an older building would need to hold all that pressure safely it might be more cost effective to build an aquarium from the ground up. That said, there is an existing older building just down Lancaster that by all accounts is built like a bunker and is not being used, and holds water to boot!

Regarding the highway access: The way I see it, there are three ways out of the arena area: Go north on Main to Northside or 28th, then over to I35W. Go south on Main into downtown and use any of the freeway entrances there. Go west on White Settlement, then south on Henderson down to I30. One would hope the new White Settlement bridge could handle dumping that many cars at once into it.

Regarding the highway access: The way I see it, there are three ways out of the arena area: Go north on Main to Northside or 28th, then over to I35W. Go south on Main into downtown and use any of the freeway entrances there. Go west on White Settlement, then south on Henderson down to I30. One would hope the new White Settlement bridge could handle dumping that many cars at once into it.

Very good design work. Site intended to be "pedestrian friendly," but issues related to transportation access have been raised. Provided there is freeway access to the site, what about automobile parking? Is there enough lot space around the arena or maybe also across the river? Remember that the old power plant was mainly for employees and guests; a large arena attracting thousands is another matter altogether.

Very good design work. Site intended to be "pedestrian friendly," but issues related to transportation access have been raised. Provided there is freeway access to the site, what about automobile parking? Is there enough lot space around the arena or maybe also across the river? Remember that the old power plant was mainly for employees and guests; a large arena attracting thousands is another matter altogether.

I'm sure with the way Panther Island is designed, the city would most likely go with garage parking.

... there are also the collection of powerlines on the other side of Main St. The TRV map even shows it as this big grey block. My thinking is that regardless of what's built, the space directly in between that and the bridge will be surface lots.